China to stockpile frozen pork

Ministry of Commerce attempts to increase meat prices

China will begin stockpiling frozen pork in an attempt to prop up falling meat prices, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced May 15.

Stockpiling is planned to begin when the price per kilogram of live pigs remains at between 5.5 and 6 times the price of a kilogram of corn for four consecutive weeks. A state-owned storage facility is currently being built.

China's pork industry is facing a glut, as the number of live pigs increased 8.5% compared with last year, to a total of 449 million head in March 2009, according to government statistics. Meanwhile, the wholesale price of pork fell to 14.49 yuan per kilo on May 10, a drop of over 22% compared to the beginning of this year.

China's Sichuan province announced its own frozen pork stockpile plan earlier this month, reported the Chengdu-based West China City Daily newspaper.

In January six ministries jointly announced a plan to increase restrictions on pork imports.

China’s customs statistics showed that pork imports to Guangdong province decreased to 28,000 metric tons during the first quarter of 2009, a drop of 48.4% compared with the same period last year.